The Terror of the Volcano
by Walking in Little Circles
Summary: Cinnabar Island was a peaceful place. Everything changed when the volcano erupted. It's up to Red and Green to help save the day. But can they save themselves?


**I'd just like to thank S. Flame Eve for giving me prompts to write this story with. Here they are, if you're curious.**

 **Burn**

 **Live your life**

 **Quote she made.**

For the people of Cinnabar Island, the end of the world started out just like every other day. Tourists were all over the city, taking in the rays and just relaxing. But one tourist had a mission. His name was Red.

Red had heard from Blaine that there had been some unusual earthquakes happening in Cinnabar. Because Red was the champion of the Kanto region, Blaine had asked him to investigate the possible cause, which he suspected to be a fault in the ocean floor. Blaine had told Red that he would figure out the precise location of the fault by the time he arrived. Red enjoyed the fact that he was trusted with such an important task. It made him feel grown up.

Red glanced over at the tourists in envy. Being trusted with important tasks was nice, but it left for little time for vacation. But being champion meant forsaking your own needs for others.

"HEY RED!" a girl's voice yelled.

Red glanced in the direction of the voice. He smiled as he recognized Green.

"I didn't know you were going to be here!" Green chirped. "Are you going on vacation as well?"

"No," Red told her. "Blaine asked me here to investigate something."

"Investigate what?" Green asked.

Red decided it was best that he didn't blurt out news of the possible tremors in front of vacationing families. It was probably nothing anyway. "Something."

Green rolled her eyes. "Fine. Be all mysterious and everything. But when you're done, do you want to hang out with me?"

Red shrugged. "Maybe."

"Come on, Red!" Green elbowed him. "You need a break from running around the world doing things for people! I know that being the champion is tiring, but you need to live your life!"

"Maybe," Red said again.

"You do what you want, but I'm going to the beach," Green said, walking away.

Red grinned. Green was always so relaxed and nonchalant about everything. Sometimes he wished he could be like that. He set off towards the volcano that was home to Blaine's gym.

Before Red could get to the gym, he ran into Blain. "Red, thank goodness you're here," Blaine ran up to him. "We're Evacuating the city."

Red was surprised. "What?"

"According to this new chart, there is a high chance that the volcano will be erupting soon, which explains the underground tremors," Blaine explained. "We need to evacuate everyone."

"How are we going to do that?"

Blaine frowned. "There's sirens, but…"

Suddenly, the sound of sirens filled the air. Red felt a feeling of dread course through his body. "Do you need my help?"

Blaine nodded. "Not all of the vacationers will know what that siren means. You need to warn them as quickly as possible. Tell them to head to the boats."

"Right," Red agreed. He threw a Pokeball. "Go Charizard!"

The orange fire dragon emitted a huge roar as it was released. "Charizard! I need you to fly me around the island so I can warn people!"

Charizard bent down and let Red on its back. Red flew towards the beach. "Everyone! Remain calm! The island is being evacuated. Please proceed calmly towards the port. Boats will be waiting for you there."

The vacationers were shocked, naturally, but nobody panicked. Everyone proceeded calmly towards the boats. Red flew around the rest of the island, informing those not on the beach of the danger. The evacuation was going smoothly for the most part. But no matter where Red went, he still could not find Green. Red and his Charizard eventually flew back to the docks.

"Red!" a voice called.

Red sighed in relief. It was Green.

Green ran up to him. "I'm glad you're alright!"

"I'm glad you're okay too," Red said.

"Is everyone at the docks?" Blaine asked Red.

Red nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good," Blaine said.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Those who had yet to evacuate began to panic.

"The volcano is going to erupt!" someone yelled.

Green turned to Red. "Red! You and I need to stop the lava from reaching the town!"

"That's impossible!" Blaine exclaimed. "The most you would do was slow it down a little!"

"Than that's what we're going to do!" Red yelled. "Come on, Green! You and I can get to the volcano on Charizard!"

En route to the volcano, it exploded. Ash and pumice started to rain down from the sky, almost hitting Charizard. Thankfully, Charizard dropped them off at the bottom of the volcano. Red called Charizard back and threw a new pokeball. "Blastoise, I choose you!" Blastoise appeared, ready for a command. "Blastoise, use Hypro Pump!"

Blastoise obeyed. The lava receded for a moment.

"I have a better idea," Green boasted. "Sandslash! Use Dig to make a trench!"

Sandslash quickly dug, creating a trench that spanned the entire base of the volcano.

"Perfect!" Green chirped. She threw another Pokeball. "Starmie! I choose you!" The star pokemon appeared in a blaze of red light. "Starmie, help Red and Blastoise keep the lava as far away from the trenches as possible. Sandslash and I are going to make some more!"

"Right!" Red agreed. As Green ran off with Sandslash, Red had to smile to himself. Green was full of surprises. Suddenly, a rock hit him on the head. Ouch. Red pulled his backpack over his head to shield himself. Blastoise pulled itself into a shell while using Hydro pump in order to protect itself. Starmie decided to spin while using its Hydro Pump.

"Good thinking guys!" Red praised the two water types.

The following hours were full of flames. Flames, flames, flames everywhere. Everything was burning. It didn't help that there was a small breeze that helped the flames from the burning buildings spread even further. Whenever Red, Blastoise, and Starmie got too close to one trench, Red's Charizard picked them up and flew them over it, allowing the lava to overflow and start flowing to the next trench. Red would then call Charizard back into its Pokeball to protect it from the falling debris and the process would repeat itself over again. But the trenches were overflowing faster and faster and there were more and more burning buildings. Red knew that time was running out.

"Red!" Green lept over a trench. She was also wearing her backpack over her head. "Everyone's evacuated. We need to go, now!"

With a sigh of relief, Red recalled his Blastoise, while Green recalled her Starmie. They both hopped on Charizard. For a moment, it seemed like everything was going to work out okay.

Then the ground began to shake again.

"Charizard! Go go go!" Red urged his Pokemon.

Charizard spread his mighty wings and took to the sky. But the pumice rocks were making it difficult to fly. "Charizard! Fly straight up and use Flamethrower!" Red commanded. Charizard obeyed, destroying all the rocks in its way with its powerful flamethrower. The plan was working.

Except for the fact that Charizard's Flamethrower couldn't destroy every rock. Only enough to make a small hole to escape.

Red could see the clouds when he felt Green's grip slide off of his waist. He turned around to see Green, unconscious, blood dripping from a wound given to her by a large rock that had hit her on her now unprotected forehead. Red reached out wildly, but he could only snag air.

"GREEN!" Red bellowed. "Charizard, dive!"

Charizard folded its wings and fell. Red felt the wind roaring around his ears, the adrenaline pumping through his body. No no no he was not going to lose Green. Not like this. Red reached out his hands and caught Green by the arm.

"Charizard! Back up! Hurry!" Red gripped Green tightly. She needed medical attention, and fast. Gradually, the rocks became less and less until finally the night sky was in sight.

Red looked down. The volcano eruption seemed less scary from up above. Almost like a photograph that needed to be framed. Red laughed. He didn't know why. Maybe he just needed to relieve some stress.

Red directed Charizard towards the boats. He picked out the coast guard's boat and landed Charizard directly on it. Officer Jenny came over to him.

"Officer Jenny, my friend Green is hurt! She needs medical attention!"

Officer Jenny stared at Green.

Red scowled. "What are waiting for! She needs help, right now!"

"What's your name, child?" Officer Jenny asked gently.

"Red, Ma'm. I'm the champion!" Red didn't understand why she was asking these questions. "Green needs help right now! What part of now do you not understand?"

Officer Jenny gently took Green from Red's hands, set her gently onto a stretcher, and pulled the blanket over her body.

Time stopped for Red. _No_ , he thought. _It can't be_.

"Red," Officer Jenny knelt down and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Your friend is dead."

Red staggered backwards. No no no no no. It couldn't be. He was just talking to her on the beach, he was just fighting a volcano with her, her hand was just around his waist…

Red collapsed to his knees and screamed. "GREEN!" he bawled, grasping his chest. Officer Jenny sat next to him, rubbing his back. Red felt the wind again, this time colder than before.

At some point, Red passed out. His nightmares were filled with fire and dead bodies.

Red woke up thrashing. Eventually, Red realized he was in a Pokemon Center. Probably the one in Viridian City, Red thought to himself. Someone had taken the trouble of buying him chocolate and giving him a vase with flowers. Red sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. Despite the fact that he had just woken up, he felt as if he hadn't slept in a million years.

Red's mother walked into the room. Red didn't need to say anything. She opened her arms and he fell into them.

Green's funeral was three days after the eruption. Red inherited all of her Pokemon because her parents couldn't bear the pain of keeping them. Since Red already had an active team of six, Professor Oak would take care of them. But Red still felt hollow. The doctor said that his sudden inability to speak was due to the trauma of watching Green die. He told Red's mother that the best thing to do for him was to have therapy sessions.

Red went to those sessions, but nothing happened. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't speak. Nightmares plagued his sleep. Red's mother told him everything was fine now that he was safe at home. But Red saw the pain on his mother's face as she stared at the bills piling up for therapy that just wasn't working. Everytime he saw his mother do that, he would go up to his room to try to get words out. All he received in return were animalish grunts. Red knew his mother loved him, but he hated the suffering that he was bringing onto her.

Red lived at Pallet Town for about a month after the incident until the day he heard something interesting while visiting Green's Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab.

"Gramps!" Blue said. "I heard a rumor that there's a legendary Pokemon in Mt. Silver in the Johto region!"

"Really?" Professor Oak said.

Blue nodded. "I'm going to go there and see if the rumors are true!"

Professor Oak shook his head. "No, Blue. I need you here to help me with research."

Blue of course, argued about Professor Oak's decision. But in the end, Professor Oak won.

Red flashed back to the last non-emergency conversation that he had with Green.

" _I know that being the champion is tiring, but you have to remember to live your life!"_

 _Live your life_ , Red thought. Maybe it was time to take her advice.

Red ran back to his house. He scribbled his request on a piece of paper. "Mom, I want to go on a journey again!"

His mother took the note and read it carefully. "Red, sweetie, I know you want to go on another adventure, but I don't think you're ready. I-I know you're like your father and can't sit still, but sometimes you just need to. Do you understand me?"

Red nodded glumly. His mother was watching out for him, as mothers always do. But he still yearned to do something other than waste away, unable to speak or sleep without nightmares. Perhaps he'd find his voice out in the world somewhere.

When night fell, Red snuck out of his bedroom. It was easy to do, considering that he was unable for the most part to make a sound. Red grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and left his mother a note.

"Mother,

I'm leaving on an adventure. I know this isn't what you want, but it's something I have to do. I promise I'll come back someday.

-Red"

Red put all of his Pokemon in his pokeballs and left the house, as silent as a ninja. Pallet Town looked different at night. It was calmer, more peaceful. Red set off for his place of departure, Route 1. Red threw Charizard's pokeball. Red and Charizard just stood there for a minute. This is where I had my first Pokemon battle, with Charizard back when he was a Charmander. This is where Blue caught his first Pokemon, Rattata, and rubbed it in my face. So many things had happened here.

Red shook his head to snap himself out of his nostalgia. He had lived his life here. Red slipped on Charizard's back and pointed towards the sky. Charizard, who had gotten used to Red's silent commands immediately flew up towards the sky. _Mt. Silver, here I come!_ Red looked across the starry night sky. He wasn't going to let himself fall into the comfortable patterns of everyday life. He wasn't going to let himself sit around becoming a burden either. He wanted adventure, he wanted to live, he wanted to mean something! And he was going to find those things out in the world. Red allowed himself a small smile. _Green, I'm doing this for you. I hope you're happy_ , w _herever you are._


End file.
